Presentation Commandments

I’m preparing revisions to several workshops and some presentation commandments have come to mind:

1. Thou shalt prepare and rehearse again and again. The success of a presentation is determined at the preparation stage.
2. Thou shalt strive to clarify, not to win. Thou art providing information or making a point, not selling a used car.
3. Thou shalt beware of complicated messages. If it is complicated to thou, it will be doubly so for thy audience.
4. Thou shalt translate numbers into plain language. Many numbers with little explanation are lethal.
5. Thou shalt consider the needs of audience members who like to hear messages and those who like to see messages.
6. Thou shalt be open to questions. Always.
7. Thou shalt consider the arguments or objections of the most skeptical member of thy audience while preparing thy presentation.
8. Thou shalt consider the timing and the context. What is appropriate one day may not be the next.
9. Thou shalt carefully use humor.
10. Thou shalt never make anyone feel small or slighted.
11. Thou shalt never read thy presentation.
12. Thou shalt vary thy tone of voice.
13. Thou shalt not pound the lectern.
14. Thou shalt keep careful control of the pointer lest thou blind an audience member.
15. Thou shalt not use too many PowerPoint slides or PowerPoint at all if thou can avoid it.
16. Thou shalt check out the room in advance.
17. Thou shalt consider the lighting and never dim the lights.
18. Thou shalt avoid jargon. Thou know it. Thy friends know it. But thy audience doesn’t know it.
19. Thou shalt not strive to be perfect, but to be credible. Perfect may be out of reach and can even come across as too smooth. Credible is always appropriate.
20. Thou shalt be brief and to the point.
21. Once thy presentation is done, thou shalt sit down. Many a presentation has been undone by informal, follow-up remarks.